Closer
by My Sharpie Is Green
Summary: Of all the times he could have come out of the woodwork, it had to be when she was lying on the floor after being her usual clumsy self. Brilliant. [SEQUEL TO 'AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER']


**A/N:** This is a sequel to "An Affair To Remember". Meaning that you won't understand this unless you read that. Meaning go read that now. Get it? Got it? Good.

**.x. Closer .x. **

It was, for Nymphadora Tonks, quite the ordinary entrance into Number 12, Grimmauld Place. She had, as usual, knocked over the troll leg umbrella stand, and, as usual, was lying embarrassed on the floor while her _dear_ aunt's screeching voice flooded the building with her screams of "half-breeds" and "blood traitors." She cursed as she scrambled to get back on her feet only to fail in pulling the curtain back over the portrait, finding that it was too bloody heavy.

"I'll get that for you." There was a flash of red hair and, in a matter of seconds, the curtain was closed and a blissful silence had filled the headquarters. She sighed, her heart still racing like it did every time that her aunt's posthumous wrath was unleashed.

"Thanks, Charlie," she said offhandedly, walking towards the stairs before she froze and whipped around, not believing her eyes. "_Charlie_?"

He laughed heartily. "So great to know that you've forgotten about me so quickly."

"Trust me, it's practically impossible to forget you, and, I hate to break it to you, but it has been a few years."

"Has it really? Well, thank you _so_ much for informing me. What was your name again? Nymphadora? Oh, no, you don't like that…. What was the nickname you liked? I want to say 'Nymph' or 'Nym', but I think that you liked 'Dora' more."

Tonks scowled, punching him in the arm. He had gotten more muscular since she had last seen him; that was certain.

"You sodding prick."

"That's harsh, Tonks. That cuts me down deep."

"Well, it ought to. You deserve it after what you said."

"How've you been?"

"Alright, I suppose. What happened to Romania?"

"I have a week off; I'm reporting my progress as far as recruiting a Romanian branch of the Order, although, I have to admit, I haven't done as well as I thought I would."

"That's too bad."

"Yeah… So, how was Auror training?"

"Nearly failed the Secrecy and Stealth portion, but, other than that, fine. I passed the test."

"I know – my mother told me."

"Oh."

"Yeah." They stood awkwardly in the foyer for a few moments, Tonks realizing with embarrassment that she was wearing the Weird Sisters shirt he had bought her all those years ago. "Hey, I, uh, have to go up to my room and unpack, but if you wanted to come up with me…"

"Yeah. Yeah, that'd be great."

Charlie grinned at her and she followed him up the creaking stairs into a dimly lit, nearly empty bedroom containing a dresser and bunk beds with a suitcase resting on the bottom mattress.

"Are the dragons all you thought they'd be, when you left?" she asked him curiously.

"They're…bloody brilliant, really," he said with a chuckle. "But sometimes I think that maybe I should have just stayed here." Tonks glanced sideways at him, wondering if he had meant what she thought that he had meant. "So, how is Remus?"

She grimaced. "Ouch. Went right for the belt, eh?"

"You asked me about the dragons."

"I suppose so."

"So how is he?"

"I don't know. We don't really talk much. Turns out age makes more of a difference than I thought."

They were sitting on Charlie's bed now, the suitcase between them, both of them rather red. Tonks was thinking that she had made a bit of a catastrophic mistake in coming up with him, while Charlie wasn't sure what to think, causing the first think to come to his mind to flow out of his mouth like word vomit.

"You look good."

"I should go."

Tonks stood up quickly, promptly banging her forehead on the woodwork above her and falling back down onto the mattress. She swore loudly.

"…Sorry."

"It's alright. Not your fault I'm so bloody clumsy." She pressed her fingers to the bump tenderly, wincing. "Ouch."

"Let me see," he said. She turned towards him and he touched the bump as lightly as possible, parting her bubblegum pink hair to check for broken skin. "You'll be alright, you'll just have a bit of a headache."

"A bit?" she asked, thinking that the pain was closer to being a migraine than a headache as it was.

"Here," he said, "lay down." Uncertainly, she leaned back until her head was in his lap. He looked down at her, habitually running his fingers through her hair.

"Charlie…"

"I missed you, you know. Well, I still miss you, actually."

Tonks remembered lying just like this with Charlie once before in his own bedroom, not long before they had parted ways. That had been the day that he called her sexy, and it had been the first and only time the word had ever been used in connotation with her. He'd called her beautiful. And he'd told her that he loved her.

"I'm sorry," he said again, pulling his hand away from her hair.

"Would you stop saying that? And put your hand back; that felt good, you know."

He began to stroke her hair again. "Are you going to respond to what I just told you, or are we going to sit here in silence?"

"Well, technically, I'm laying here and you're sitting – "

"_Tonks_."

"I don't know. I mean, I guess the only thing I can say," she said slowly, "is that…it's raining outside."

Charlie stared at her for a moment, looking at her face for any hint of sarcasm, and then looking out the window – water droplets had just begun to sprinkle the asphalt of the street. "Well, so it is."

Grinning, he leaned down and kissed her, and, to his great relief, she gladly kissed him back.

**I know this doesn't have the same flow or format as the other, but it worked better as one incident, trust me. So now… Give me an "R"! Give me an "E"! Give me a "V"! Give me an "I"! Give me an "E"! Give me a "W"! What does that spell? "REVIEW"!**


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